The last year of Jordan Allen's life has included some incredible highs: Graduating from Aquinas Institute, helping lead the University of Virginia to the NCAA semifinals, signing his first pro contract with MLS on New Year's Eve and then coming off the bench in Real Salt Lake's first two matches, a win in Los Angeles and tie in San Jose.

But now the versatile 19-year-old has suffered a major setback. His rookie season is over due to a knee injury. The versatile 5-foot-11 midfielder/defender is scheduled to have microfracture knee surgery on Thursday, his father, Howard Allen, said late Tuesday night. "He's devastated," said Howard Allen, a former Rochester Rhinos player and Aquinas coach. "It just came out of nowhere."

Allen is only the third Rochester-born former area high school standout to play in Major League Soccer, following Webster's Brian Bliss (1996-98 with Colombus, NY/NJ and K.C.) and former Pittsford Sutherland standout, Jamil Walker (2003-07, San Jose and D.C. United). Another former Aquinas star, Krystian Witkowski, signed with Philadelphia in 2012 but never played in a regular-season match due to concussion issues.

It wasn't one tackle or play that caused Allen's knee issue. But the pain in his knee has persisted. U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy's Player of the Year for the 2011-12 season, he spent time away from RSL in April after being chosen for the U.S. Under-20 squad for the Dallas Cup in late April. He left the final of that tournament in the first half, thinking he'd only just aggravated a hamstring, according to this blog from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Howard Allen told me the recovery rate for this type of knee issue is nearly 100 percent, so look for Allen to bounce back.

FLASH PLAY WEDNESDAY IN PORTLAND: Here's a link to my preview of Western New York's big road trip when it faces third-place Portland and first-place Seattle on Wednesday and Sunday on the West Coast, big matches for sure if the fifth-place Flash want to stay in the hunt for the NWSL regular-season title again. Note: WNY will be without defensive midfielder Angela Salem, who is serving a one-match suspension for a red card in Saturday's 3-2 loss at Washington.

JUNE 17 COULD BE BIG FOR RHINOS: The date for the Rhinos' potential fourth-round U.S. Open Cup match against D.C. United, if Rochester beats Reading United AC in the third round on Tuesday, will be Tuesday, June 17 at Sahlen's Stadium. The date was announced on Tuesday.

NEW INDOOR LEAGUE IS MASL: In case you missed it on Monday, the name of the new pro indoor soccer league that the Rochester Lancers will call home in 2014-15 is the Major Arena Soccer League. Here's more details.